To showcase the small but significant changes that McDonald’s has made in the past 20 years, the fast food giant has launched a campaign that capitalises on the growing 90s nostalgia trend.

The campaign, created by Leo Burnett, consists of creative that play on well-known 90s iconography. The first of which is a Teletext-inspired video that interrupts ad breaks across major networks during peak programming. The spot consists of a Teletext screen which reads “We’ve been using 100% British and Irish beef since you were booking your holidays on here,” in a nod to those familiar. The simple but striking creative will also draw in the eyes of younger viewers as bold colours and retro text play into the popular 90s revival trend.

As well as the Teletext spot, the campaign consists of an additional two 30-second ‘Keep Up With The Times’ films running across TV and video on demand. The films, shot by Tim Godsall, play on the idea of people stuck in the 90s while their friends and McDonald’s have moved with the times.

The first spot sees an office worker using a corded landline to make calls, while working from a 90s computer, complete with a floppy disk drive and a Filofax. The second sees a girl getting a message on her pager asking her to go to the roller disco that evening. Both spots use the of-the-era tropes to showcase that while they might be stuck in the 90s, McDonald’s is not. The first spot has a voice-over that reassures: “Oh get with it, Tony, the eggs in McMuffins have been free-range for over 20 years.”

The campaign is built upon the insight that while McDonald’s has made significant improvements to its food over the past 20 years, many people’s opinion of the brand hasn’t changed for over 30 years.

Hannah Pain, Head of Marketing,  Brand Affinity, Trust and Family at McDonald’s UK and Ireland, explained: “McDonald’s has evolved a lot of the years, but not everyone has kept up with those changes. Our research showed that some people were still holding onto opinions of the brand that they’d formed 30 odd years ago.”

She continued: 'Keep Up With The Times’ is a fun and impactful campaign that uses nostalgia to talk to the nation about our long-standing commitments to food quality, channelling cultural references from the 90s to illustrate how long McDonald’s has used quality sourced ingredients.”

In addition to the films, McDonald’s is also replicating its own website from the 90s to help tell their food quality journey from then until the present day. The campaign also consists of a retro inspired media buy with old school digital banners popping up across the internet, 90s themed OOH posters on sites across the UK and content that plays to pop-culture references from the past across radio and social.

A partnership with The Times has also been organised, which consists of bringing back stories and front pages from past issues of the newspaper. Retro trayliners and menu screen takeovers will also feature in restaurants across the UK.

A media strategy from OMD has been designed to create maximum impact for the campaign through the likes of targeting listeners of throwback era playlists on Spotify, to retro-style display banners in digital.

The campaign is part of McDonald’s existing ‘Change A Little, Change A Lot’ platform which highlights how small changes can build up to have a big impact. This is also part of a business and sustainability strategy to help McDonald’s achieve its aim of net zero emissions across its entire UK and Ireland business by 2040.

The campaign is able to embrace the retro 90s trend as well as the comfort and nostalgia of the era to demonstrate how the brand has developed over the years. By showcasing the brand’s longevity and embracing change for the better, McDonald’s is able to connect with audiences and gain favour with those engaging with the 90s be it for the first or second time around.